Proper fit is always an issue with women's shoes. Women frequently forego comfort for the sake of style. Not only are such stylish shoes uncomfortable, they can cause callous formations, bruises, and cuts to the feet and toes due to an improper fit and the design cut of certain style of shoes.
With regard to proper fitting of a shoe, one of the most common women's shoe fitting issues relate to the fit around the toes and the outsides of the foot. While shoe manufacturers offer the standard widths of narrow, medium, and wide such size gradation is insufficient to account for width variations within those categories. A woman's foot that fits a medium, for example, might still feel a painful rubbing on the toes, and going to the next width category is not their desired option or fit.
With regard to shoe style, the above problems can be exacerbated by certain popular styles of women's shoes including flats, pumps, high heels, and particularly, open toed shoes and sandals.
Women often forgo the fashionable style of open toed shoes and sandals and settled for enclosed footwear to hide or eliminate the ill-fit of the more fashionable footwear that reveals the overhanging, protruding, and bulging out of the side of the shoes or sandals.
Prior art solution to the above identified problems include: a. endure the pain—the majority of women just simply endure the pain, b. wear less fashionable shoes—women can wear less fashionable shoes than they otherwise would desire, c. local coverage—women can use socks or products such as Band-aids® or Mole-skin® that use an adhesive base, are unattractive, and cover only a small portion of the troubled area and they do not reliably stay in place and are not reusable, and d. providing a protective layer between the problem areas (e.g. side and top around the toes) of the foot and the shoe material.
The continuing concern among consumers who wear uncomfortable or ill-fitting shoes, is that the straps of a shoe or sandal may cause discomfort to the wearer and there is ever growing concern to look for an invention that prevents the pinky toe from protruding and bulging out of the side of the shoes or sandals, and prevent the toes from overhanging the front of the shoes or sandals, and provides enhanced comfort and support while walking and standing. Shoe insoles and comfort padding are often used to address the specific needs of an individual in connection with this problem; however, these remedies have not totally solved the problem. Thus, the wearer is impeded from the general use of particular shoes in everyday living to keep up with the ever-changing styles.
The goal of any foot or toe comfort device is to promote an eased condition such that the foot and toes are maintained in a comfortable position, and to deter points of external pressure or stress caused by certain shoe sections that come into direct contact with the wearer's foot. Moreover, a further goal of these products is to facilitate the function of the foot as it interacts and engages with the wearer's shoe while the wearer is in a seated or idle position, and also if the wearer is in motion or engaged in walking or some other activity experienced in the regular course of daily life.
What is needed is an invention that addresses substantially all of the trouble area for the protruding toes where such invention can be transparent or natural in color to minimize its impact on the style of the shoe or flashy or have its own design that can add trendy elements or contrasting color. Such an invention for the pinky toe would be designed as to not alter the look of the footwear with the many envisioned styles.
There are some foot devices that address the toes fitting inside of the shoe and some with the aid of tape and other adhesive solutions that attaches the device to the shoe or foot; however, there is no other prior art or device that is separate from the shoe that can be worn on the foot in many styles, and have the effect of keeping toes within the boundaries of an open toe style shoes or sandals, yet giving the appearance of no device being worn.
Thus there remains a need to present to women and men alike, who have imperfect feet, to be able to wear open toe style shoes or sandals, a product that can serve the purpose to eliminate the overhanging, protruding, and bulging out of the side of the footwear.
Accordingly, a need exists for a new and improved foot device that specifically eliminates the pinky toe from protruding and bulging out of the side of the shoes or sandals, and prevent the toes from overhanging the front of the shoes or sandals, and provides enhanced comfort and support to the wearer's foot while walking and standing. In addition, there is a need for a foot and toe protection device that provides better and more advantageous overall results in terms of extending the length of time a wearer is able to comfortably wear open toe style shoes or sandals. It is a general objective of the present invention to provide such a foot and toe protection device.
The present invention is an improved foot accessory used to comfortably realign widespread and scattered toes in the shoes and to eliminate the pinky toe from protruding and bulging through the straps of the open toe style shoes or sandals, and prevent the toes from overhanging the front of the shoes or sandals.
It is the objective of the present invention to provide a foot and toe protection device, wherein the foot and toe protection device is operable to be secured on the foot that is inserted into an open toe style shoes and sandals.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a foot and toe protection device for an open toe style shoes and sandals that is secured on the foot within the shoe such that the foot and toe protection device is adjacent to the wearer's foot.
Still a further objective of the present invention is to provide a foot and toe protection device operable to be secured on the foot within an open toe style shoes and sandals that is generally transparent.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a foot and toe protection device that can be worn numerous times before becoming worn out and therefore, does not require consistent replacement.
An additional objective of the present invention is to provide a foot and toe protection device for an open toe style shoes and sandals that is adjacent to the pinky toe of a wearer wherein the foot and toe protection device functions to prevent the pinky toe from protruding and bulging from the shoe.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a foot and toe protection device for an open toe style shoes and sandals that is manufactured from a flexible material.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objectives the present invention may be embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Attention is called to the fact that the drawings are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being a part of the present invention, limited only by the scope of the claims.